Matthew 28:17 Faith in the Midst of Astonishment

“And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.”

– Matthew 28:17

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A Verse That Demands a Closer Look

Few sentences in Scripture are as brief yet as misunderstood as this one. At the very moment the risen Christ appears to His disciples, Matthew records that “some doubted.” For skeptics, this verse has often been treated as ammunition—proof that even those closest to Jesus didn’t really believe. But that conclusion misunderstands both the language and the psychology of what is happening.

When read carefully, Matthew 28:17 is not about unbelief at all. It’s about astonishment—the kind of breathless hesitation that happens when reality exceeds imagination.

The Greek Word That Changes Everything

The word translated “doubted” is διστάζω (distazō). This rare Greek verb occurs only twice in the New Testament—here and in Matthew 14:31, when Peter walks on the water toward Jesus. After stepping out of the boat and taking a few miraculous steps, Peter begins to sink. Jesus catches him and asks, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (ἐδίστασας).

The Greek lexicon BDAG defines distazō as “to waver, hesitate, or be uncertain.”¹ Likewise, Louw–Nida translates it as “to be uncertain about taking a particular course of action.”² It never means outright disbelief (apisteō).

Etymologically, distazō comes from dis (two) and stasis (standing). It literally means to stand in two places at once—to be pulled between two responses. That is precisely what we mean when we say, “I can’t believe my eyes.” The reaction is not skeptical; it is stunned.

I remember a moment like that with a friend of mine named John, a security guard I passed every day on my way into work. I’d stop for a few minutes, chat, and then move on—so familiar was his presence that it became part of my routine. One day John told me it was his last day; he was leaving the job. I wished him well and went on with life. A few weeks later, as I walked by that same post, there stood John again. For a split second I stopped in my tracks, caught between what I knew—that he had left—and what I saw—that he was there. For that brief moment, I was in two places at once, just as the word distazō implies. John smiled and explained that the company had asked him to return part-time. But before my mind could process that, my heart had already whispered the words we all know so well: “I can’t believe it.”

Thus, a more accurate sense of Matthew’s phrase would be:

“When they saw Him, they worshiped Him—though some hesitated in astonished wonder.”

Not Unbelief, but Awe

Modern readers often assume that doubt means disbelief, but Scripture distinguishes between the two. Unbelief (apistia) rejects; hesitation (distazō) marvels. The disciples are not refusing to believe what they see. They are overwhelmed because it is too real to process.

This distinction matters. The resurrection of Jesus is not the kind of event anyone can quickly absorb. These men had watched Him die, some from a distance, some up close. Now they see the same crucified Lord standing before them alive, radiant, speaking with authority. That moment does not call for suspicion; it demands reverent astonishment.

The scene reflects the same tension throughout Scripture when mortals encounter divine glory. Isaiah cries, “Woe is me!” (Isa 6:5). Ezekiel falls on his face before the vision of God (Ezek 1:28). John collapses as though dead at the sight of the risen Christ (Rev 1:17). To meet God face-to-face is not easy—it overwhelms the senses.

Matthew carefully places two verbs side by side: “they worshiped” (prosekynēsan) and “some doubted” (edistasan). These are not sequential events; they happen simultaneously. Their faith expresses itself in worship, even as their minds struggle to comprehend.

This is one of the most honest portraits of faith in all Scripture. Real faith does not always eliminate tension; sometimes it kneels with trembling hands. These disciples are not rebels; they are worshipers caught between adoration and awe.

As Charles Spurgeon once said, “I thank God for my doubts, for they drive me to Him.”³ The disciples’ momentary hesitation only magnifies the authenticity of their later conviction.

The Parallels That Confirm the Meaning

Other resurrection scenes support this interpretation.

• Luke 24:37–41: When Jesus appears to the gathered disciples, “they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.” Jesus does not scold them; He invites them to touch Him and even eats before them to prove He is real.
• John 20:24–28: Thomas doubts the testimony of others until he sees Jesus himself. When he does, his hesitation becomes the most profound confession in the Gospel: “My Lord and my God!”
• Matthew 14:31: Peter’s distazō occurs after he has already walked on the sea. He believed enough to step out but faltered in fear. His doubt was momentary awe, not lasting disbelief.

These parallels show a consistent pattern: those who hesitate in wonder are the very ones who later proclaim with unshakable faith.

Why Matthew’s Honesty Matters

If the Gospel writers were inventing a legend, they would never include such details. In ancient literature, heroes were flawless and confident. Yet Matthew paints a picture of worship mixed with trembling. That is not the language of propaganda—it’s the tone of eyewitness memory.

The historian Richard Bauckham observes,

“The Gospels are not idealized legends; they are the testimony of those who were there, remembered and retold.”⁴

Their hesitation, fear, and awe ring true because that is what witnesses of the impossible would actually feel.

Matthew’s inclusion of this detail gives us an invaluable apologetic clue: the early Christians were not gullible dreamers but astonished eyewitnesses. Their reaction is psychologically real and historically plausible. It is, paradoxically, the hesitation of authenticity.

The Transformation That Followed

Nowhere in the New Testament do we find the disciples doubting the resurrection again. After Pentecost, their faith is bold, public, and costly. They proclaim, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32).

This transition from hesitation to conviction is one of history’s great transformations. It demonstrates that their initial uncertainty was not disbelief but the prelude to unshakable witness. If “some doubted” meant they didn’t believe, Christianity would have died in its cradle. Instead, it exploded across the Roman world.

In truth, Matthew’s phrase dignifies the humanity of the disciples. They are real men, not marble statues of faith. They stand where we often stand—between awe and understanding, between the visible and the unseen.

Their hesitation reveals the realism of grace: God meets us not after we have resolved every question but while we are still processing the miracle. Jesus does not rebuke them here. He steps closer and commissions them to go into all the world (Matt 28:18–20). In the presence of hesitation, He entrusts them with a mission that would change history.

That divine gentleness is crucial. God is not threatened by our astonishment; He transforms it into obedience.

The Theology of “Some Doubted”

What, then, does this brief phrase teach us?

1. Faith can coexist with awe. The disciples both worshiped and hesitated. Their hesitation did not disqualify them.
2. Hesitation can become conviction. Every one of these men later preached, suffered, and, in most cases, died for their faith.
3. Scripture is honest about human frailty. The Gospels show us believers who are still learning to see clearly.
4. The resurrection accounts are historically credible. Their candor about confusion and hesitation argues strongly for authenticity.

The Greek verb distazō captures the realism of resurrection faith—a faith that begins in astonishment and grows into boldness.

For Modern Disciples

Modern Christians should find comfort here. If those who saw Jesus face-to-face could still waver for a moment, then our own seasons of wonder or hesitation do not make us faithless; they make us human.

Faith is not pretending certainty; it is moving forward in trust despite our limits. The disciples show that we can worship amid confusion and serve amid mystery.

As the apostle Jude later urged, “Have mercy on those who doubt” (Jude 22). God certainly did—and still does.

If you’ve ever stood between belief and awe—between knowing something is true and struggling to take it in—you stand in good company. The disciples did too. They worshiped, even as they hesitated.

When Matthew tells us “some doubted,” he is not exposing failure; he is revealing grace. For in that moment of astonished hesitation, faith and humanity met the risen Lord—and He accepted both.

So, when you find yourself saying, “I can’t believe it,” remember: sometimes that phrase doesn’t mean unbelief at all. It means the miracle is so true it overwhelms you. Worship anyway. Let astonishment lead you to adoration. Because the same Jesus who stood on that Galilean mountain still meets His followers today—in their faith, and yes, even in their hesitation.

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Footnotes
¹ BDAG, A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 250.
² Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains(New York: United Bible Societies, 1988), 31.82.
³ Charles H. Spurgeon, Sermons, Vol. 12 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1866), 143.
⁴ Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 48.